Feature Article
 

My First Football Game: The Cowboys vs. The Giants

By Melissa Minners
 

            I’m not a fan of most violent sports.  I don’t really pay attention to boxing and am not a huge hockey fan so I rarely, if ever, watch the games.  The only sport I enjoy that could be considered violent is football.  For years as a kid I would hope my dad would take me to see one of the Army games he went to, but the offer always went to my brother.  I suppose that it was a form of male bonding, but I liked football as well and watched football or listened to it whenever I could - college and professional league play.

            Anyways, I grew up an Oakland Raiders fan.  It all started when I received a football trading card of Ray Guy, an Oakland Raiders punter, in a package of Wonder Bread and grew from there.  I know, how can I be from New York and call myself a Raiders fan?  Well, it’s not easy since their games are rarely televised out here.  Thus, I must sacrifice and listen to or watch New York Giants or New York Jets games.  When my friend, a New York Giants fan, offered to take me to the game at the Meadowlands Stadium (never will understand why two New York football teams play in New Jersey) on November 14, 2010, I jumped at the chance.  After all, the Dallas Cowboys are bitter rivals of the New York Giants and this promised to be a good game.

            We left early so if we ran into traffic, we would still have time wander around the new stadium and take in all the sights.  Who knew that there would be no traffic, but a confusing mess that would pass as Meadowlands Stadium Parking.  I had checked the website earlier in the week and learned that parking cost $25.00 and that if you parked in the lots farther off from the stadium, there was a free shuttle that would take you to and from the Meadowlands Stadium.  What apparently wasn’t clear to me was that if you don’t have a special Parking Permit, it didn’t matter where you WANTED to park - you were forced to park in the farthest lot from the stadium.  We were herded via stadium employees and rather confusing signs to the Murray Hill Parking Lot which was actually the parking lot of a hotel - the Residence Inn.

            As we paid for our overpriced parking, we were handed a bus ticket.  We walked to the shuttle bus which only took us to Lot P, what I had thought was the farthest lot from the stadium based on the website.  Apparently, this lot is accessible to Blue Permit holders.  I wondered just how much these crappy parking spots cost if ours were $25.00.  We then walked - by the time we would have gotten the shuttle filled enough to take it to the stadium we would have been there - the numerous blocks, sometimes along major thoroughfares to the stadium.  I was so annoyed with the parking experience that I was barely aware of the tailgaters, but I did notice some interesting Giants-dedicated mobile homes and trailers and one oversized smoker.  I also noticed the smells of the barbecue, making my mouth water despite the pizza I had eaten at lunch time.

            When we finally prepared to enter the stadium, I got on line to be searched and patted down.  I was prepared for this by the stadium website and hadn’t brought much with me besides my jacket and my camera.  Happy that security was pretty strict on this score and that they did the job rather efficiently, I now entered the stadium with my friend and we toured the bathrooms which were surprisingly very clean.  We then hit the Official Giants Store and purchased some mementos.  Prices weren’t as bad as I expected and the variety was excellent.

            Then it was time to hit the concession stands.  To start things off, I bought a hot dog, a hot pretzel and a soda in a special collectors cup.  I wish I had stopped off at one of the tailgaters’ parties, because the bun on my hotdog was hard, the pretzel nothing to write home about and the soda…well, it was good, but I unfortunately left my collectors cup at the stadium.  The Ms. Fields cookies and hot chocolate that I had later were much more enjoyable.

            Then, the game began and I became engrossed in the action on the field.  Unfortunately, the Giants didn’t really come to win on this date and the officials weren’t planning on letting them even if they had.  Bad calls and missed holding and pass interference calls abounded.  It seemed like almost every single penalty called was against the Giants.  They were losing in the first half, but I had hopes for the second half.  A woman seated next to us joked that they should turn out the lights and call the game…and then, the lights went out…all over the stadium.  It was amazing.  All you could see was the flashing of cameras everywhere for at least five or six seconds.  It looked like a night sky with thousands of twinkling stars.  Then the auxiliary power kicked in ad we had light, albeit weak light.

            We thought they might call the game and that sort of annoyed me.  When I was a kid they didn’t have digital score boards or clocks and the football players did just fine, but in this day and age you can’t apparently play football without these things.  Announcements were made asking folks to remain calmly in their seats until instructed otherwise.  Then the scoreboards and clocks came back on and we all cheered.  The players set up on the field and we all looked at each other in confusion as another announcement prepared us to evacuate the stadium.  Why would the players be setting up on the field if we were being evacuated?  Then we realized this was a mistake and that play would actually be resumed…that is until the powers that be realized that they had lost television feed.  Good Lord!  We couldn’t possibly go on with the game if the fans at home couldn’t watch it!  Jeeze!

            When play resumed it seemed as if the Giants had new life…and then it was taken away.  I watched my favorite receiver, Hakeem Nicks, catch an amazing downfield pass, only to have it called back on a penalty.  I later found out that the penalty was holding, but at the time all of us were shouting in protest as the officials forgot to tell the folks in the stands why they were calling the ball back.  The game was over at that point - the fire from that touchdown was taken away and nothing could bring it back. 

            We lost, but although my team didn’t win and there were some annoying issues at the stadium, I still came away with a good feeling.  After all, the game was exciting enough and the fans were great with exception of the few obnoxious drunks (one seated behind us painted in blue).  In fact, we were seated between both Giants and Cowboys fans and these fans were extremely polite and friendly, despite their team alliances.  Getting to our parked car was annoying, but no one could accuse us of over-eating and not exercising.  We got our exercise just getting to and from our parking area.  Even more surprising was the trip out of the stadium, much simpler than the trip in and fairly speedy in spite of the number of people leaving the stadium at the same time.

            So, all-in-all, my first football experience was quite enjoyable.  However, I will say that parking at Meadowlands Stadium really needs to be addressed.  After all, we are paying enough for the tickets.  If you are going to park us so far away from the stadium that we are in a lot not even owned by said stadium, the least you could do is charge us less to park there.  Otherwise, I thought the experience was fun and I would do it again readily.  It may be easier to watch the game lounging in the confines of your own home, but there is still nothing like experiencing it up close and personal in the stadium.

 

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